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(Nd Model.) 2Sheets-Sheat1.

A. A. HATCH.

BLEGTRIGAL SIGNALING APPARATUS. No. 435.894.

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(No Model.)

A. A. HATCH.

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Nrrn STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ADIN A. IIATGII, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TO BENJAMIN F. JONES, EDWARD L. MARTIN, AND ALFRED \V. JONES, ALL OF SAME PLACE.

ELECTRICAL SlGNALlNG APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 435,894, dated September 2, 1890. Application filed January 6, 1890. Serial No. 335,970. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ADIN A. HATCH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Kansas City, in the county of Jackson and State of Missouri, have madea new and useful Invention in Electrical Signaling Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates particularly to electrical signaling devices of the type known in the art as individual-call apparatus, in which any one of a series of outlying signalreceivers located on a single or common main line may be called or signaled, to the exclusion of all the others not wanted; and its objects are, first,to provide an apparatus which will respond to a certain prearranged call and in the briefest possible time with a minimum liability of failure and be assuredly individual in its response; second, to adapt such a device to closed-circuit use, and, third, to the utilization of electrical impulses of short duration adapted to be transmitted with great rapidity and in any desired sequence or order. I aecomplish these objects by the use of the meeh' anism hereinafter described, but particularly pointed out. in the claims which follow.

In a prior patent granted to me on the llth day of May, 1889, numbered 403,10 l, I have disclosed a novel apparatus whereby signals of the character named may be transmitted.

In the apparatus therein disclosed I have made use of signals sent from a transmittingstation, which signals involved the use of the well-known Morse dots and dashes arranged in any desired or prearranged grouping or order, and the outlying receiving apparatus was designed to respond individually to such prearranged grouping, all of the instruments but the one signaled being automatically restored to their normal condition at some time during the transmission of the particular signal to its specified receiving apparatus.

The present invention is an improvement upon that disclosed in the aforesaid patent in that I utilize a novel principle in grouping or arranging transmitted impulses only in contradistinction to transmitted pulsations andimpulscs in the nature of dashes and dots as disclosed in said patcnt-that is to say, I

transmit over the signaling-line a series of dots only, arranged and spaced as hereinafter described, thus electrically charging the line always an equal amountand causing the spacings between the individual dots to vary the action of the receiving apparatus. the utilization of this principle I am enabled to simplify my apparatus and to increase its speed and certainty of operation.

My invention will be fully understood by referring to the accompanying. drawings, in which Figures 1, 2, and 3 are side elevational views of one receiver shown under different conditions of operation with a transmitter and a main-linecircuitin diagrammatic view. Figs. 4, 5, and 6 are detail views of parts of the apparatus.

The main features of construction of the apparatus and its general mode of operation are much the same as that of the apparatus disclosed in my prior patent, and involves, as in that patent, a main-line battery MB, relay R, a local signal-operating magnet M and battery LB, a local restoring-magnet M and battery LE a gravitating circuit-closer, consisting of a swinging yoke F, with arm R weight Vt, arm N, and sector N, the latter having detent stops or catches e 6 6 &c., adapted to take against the pivoted detent t and hooked stop 0, a dashpot D, connected by rod R to yoke F, and local trembler-bell G, with local battery LB circuit 1", and sliding circuit-breaker SW, and circuit-connections through 13' on arm M, as shown.

In the apparatus disclosed in the aforesaid patent the curved sector, corresponding to sector N in the present application, carries also an additional sector, and the armaturelever arm Ais provided with mechanism having frictional bearing upon the second curved sector, when the hooked stop 0 drops through between the detent-stops e c, &c., and the yoke swings back under the influence of the restoring-magnet M. I avoid the use of these superfluous parts, which unnecessarilyretard the action of the apparatus, by utilizing the impulse principle above referred to, as I will now describe.

On the end of they armature-lever A, pivoted between standards S is a pair of contactsprings s 3 connected attheir upper ends by the wires Z and Z to the magnet M and armature-lever A, pivoted in standards S. The free ends of these contact-springs are adapted, when the armature A is drawn down to its lowest position, to contact with the adjustable contacts 19' and 19 connected to local circuits 1' and Z and batteries LB and L13 thence to magnets M and M. Magnet M is connected by a local wire Z to an insulated spring 3, carried by the armature-lever A and adapted to bear against stops p and ps, as shown.

The signal-transmitter consists, preferably, of a metallicdisk T, havingconnection through its axis by switch SW to earth.

it are insulating-spaces, there being several such spaces-say three or morelocated on each transmitting-disk in advance of the regular signal to be transmitted, the function of which is to unison all of the outlying receivers before any signal is sent in. The electrical contacting spaces are all of equal length, save the prolonged space on which the spring 8 remains when the apparatus is at rest, as shown in Fig. 1. The insulatingspaces 2' '5 between the contacting spaces are made substantially equal to said contacting spaces, except where their order is varied, and then these spaces are made longer, so as to cause a prolonged open circuit. This order is varied at will, and the orderof double and single loops or detent-stops e 6 6 &c., and corresponding openings between the same on the sector N, are made to accord with this arrangement of contact and insulated spacesin the transmitter. (See Figs. 4 and 6).

In Fig. 6 is shown a developed plan of a transmitter-disk adapted to send first three unisoning impulses; second, a prolonged break; third, an impulse, then a long break, then an impulse, then a short break, then an impulse, then a long break, then an impulse, then a long break, then an impulse, then a long break, then an impulse, then a short break, then an impulse, and finally a short break.

Now, referring to Figs. 2, 4, and 5, the signal-transmitter has transmitted the three unisoning impulses to line, and all of the signal-receivers (which are duplicates of that shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3) arein the position shown in Fig. 2, ready to start, the main-line circuit being open and signal-disk T being rotated from left to right. As the transmitter is advanced,the circuit is closed at the first impulse, thereby releasing thepivoted dete'nt t and allowing itto tilt to the left and bringing the hook-stop 0 into the middle position, (shown in full lines in Fig. 5,) still holding the yoke F from tilting under the influence of weight WV. The next break being a long break, permits the detentto step into the first eye of the double loop of stop 6 (sec Fig. 4) and the hook-stop c to assume the upper position. (Shown in dotted lines in Fig. 5 Now comes a dot-impulse, which places hook c in the firs loop, theua brief break, which allows the detent to bridge the space between the loops, and so on in the same general manner described in my prior patent, the spaces are bridged between the loops or eyes 6 e, &c., as the gravitating circuit-closer advances. When the complete signal has been sent in, the apparatus assumes the position shown in Fig. 3, and the local circuit of battery LB is momentarily closed by the gravitating circuit-closer at point p on arm M, and the first stroke of the trembler-bell armature-lever causes the sliding circuit-closer SW to permanently close a ringing-circuit, (shown in dotted lines,) while the signaling apparatus is restored to its normal condition, as I will now proceed to describe. As long as the proper sequence of impulses prevails the hooked stop 0 willnot drop down between the eyes or loops e c, 850., until all of said eyes are passed, as shown in Fig. 3. Thenthe local battery LB, which acts at each closure of its circuit, causes magnet M to draw its armature down to the extreme stroke, thereby bringing the springs s s on its right-hand end into electrical contact with the points 19 p and closing two independent circuits through magnets M and M, the former from battery LB by wires l springs 8 s and wire Z, and the latter from battery LB by wire Z and spring 3 The first-named magnet causes armature A to be held down firmly, while the latter magnet M, acting through armature A,

link M, and arm N, restores the yoke F, sector N, and hence the entire gravitating circuitcloser to its normal position. At the extreme end of its stroke armature-A breaks the shuntcircuit to magnet M between point p and spring 3 and allows the armature A to rise, thereby locking the sector, as shown in Fig.2. I may use a key K in a shunt around the transmitter or instead of one or more transmitters, and operate the signals according to a prearranged Order of impulses determined upon.

I do not limit the use of my improved ap-' paratus to individual signalingon telephone, telegraph, and analogous circuits, as it is obvious that many uses might suggest themselves-as, for instance,itsuse in connection with railway-signals, combination-locks, ,&c., or in any place where a prearranged secret combination could be advantageously used in the arts. Nor do I limit myself to the specific construction of apparatus shown and described herein, as it is obvious to those skilled in the art that many .of the details of construction herein disclosed might be modified and still come within the scope of myclaims.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. A signaling apparatus consisting of a transmitter having electrical contacting spaces or segments of equal length separated byinsulated spaces having a prearranged order and length, in combination with a signal-receiver having a gravitating circuitcloser and means for causing it to respond only to the prearranged order of impulses set up by the transmitter, substantially as described.

2. An electrical signaling apparatus consistin g of a transmitter having electrical contacting spaces of equal length separated by a prearranged order of ii'isulating-spaces of different lengths, in combination with a signal-receiver having a circuit-controller provided with means for causing the circuit-controller to complete its movement only for a sequence of transmitted electrical impulses corresponding to the arrangement on the transmitter, substantially as described.

3. An electrical signal-receiver consisting of a circuit-closing device,a local circuit controlled thereby, electro-magnetic means for advancing the c rcuit-closer step by step in accordance with a prearranged order of tran sinitted electrical impulses of equal duration, and an electro-magnetic restoring device for restoring the cireuit-closer to normal condition, said restoring device having electrical connections only with the armature-levers of the advancing and restoring magnets and the frame of the machine, substantially as described.

4. A signattransmitter adapted to transmit electrical impulses of equal duration, but varying in the order of intervals according to a prearranged order, in combination with a signal-receiver provided with means for advancing it to the completion of the signal in accord with the impulses transmitted, and additional means for restoring it to normal condition after the signal is completed, substantially as described.

5. A signal-transmitter having a series of electrical contacting spaces or segments, all of equal length, separated by a prearranged order of insulating-spaces of diiterent lengths, in combination with a step-by-step receiving apparatus having means for advancing it in accord with the prearranged order of electrical impulses set up by the transmitter, and additional means for restoring the signal-receiver to normal condition after the signal has been received, substantially as described.

6. A signal-transn'iitter for an individual call, consisting of a conductii'lg-disk having a series of insulated segments preceding the regular signal, in combination with a prearranged order of contacting spaces of substantially equal length, whereby unisoning cur rents are first sent to line to unison all of the instruments, and then a code-signal of impulses is sent to actuate a particular receiver, substantially as described.

7. A signal-receiver consisting of a local controlling-magnet, a local restoring-magnet, a gravitating circuiteloser controlled by the first magnet in its advance, mechanical connections between it and the armature of the second magnet only for restoring it to normal condition, with local battery-connections between the two armatures andthe frame of the apparatus, substantially as described.

8. A signal-receiver consisting of a local gravitating circuit-closer having electrical connections with a local battery and signal mechanism, a controlling-magnet for advancing the gravitating circuit-closer,a restoringnlagnet for returning the gravitating circuitcloser to normal condition, mechanical connections between the gravitating circuitcloser and the armature of the restoring-magnet, and electrical connections between the arm atures and frame of the mechanism,whereby the signal will be received if a proper sequence of impulses be transmitted and restored at the end of the signal to normal condition, substantially as described.

9. In a signal-receiver, a gravitating circuit-closer, a controlling-magnet having an armature with mechanical connections for regulating the advance of the circuit-closer, a restoring-magnet having an armature connected mechanically to the gravitating circuitcloser, and circuit-connections between local batteries and the armatures of the two magnets, whereby the gravitatin g circuit-closer is advanced and restored in accordance with the signal transmitted, substantially as described.

10. An electricallycontrolled mechanism consisting of a movable circuit-closer, an electro-magnet, with an armature having mechanical connections for regulating the location of the circuit-closer in one direction, a second magnet having an armature mechanically connected to the movable circuit-closer, and electrical connections between the two magnets and their armatures, substantially as described.

11. An electrical device consisting of a circuit-controlling apparatus having contacting spaces or segments of equal length separated by insulating-spaces of varying length, but having a prearranged order, in combination with a receiving device located in the same electrical circuit and having a gravitating circuit-closer provided with electro-magnetic means for advancing it step by step as the circuit-controller interrupts'the circuit, and additional means for restoring the circuitcontroller after it has com pleted its phase, substantially as described.

12. An individual signal system consisting of a series of transmitters having circuitmaking spaces or segments of equal length separated by circuit-breaking spaces of varying length, but arranged in a prearranged differing order for each transmitter, a main line, a series of relays, local circuits, and signal-reeeivers, one set for each transmitter,

said signal-receivers having CiICUit ClOSIGIS and local signal apparatus with electro-magnetic means for advancing the circuit-closers 0n the completion of their phases in accordance with the particular signal transmitted, and additional electro-magnetic means for restoring all of the circuit-closers to normal condition, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof have. affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ADIN A. HATCH.

v Witnesses:

CHARLES J. KINTNER, A. V. HINEY. 

